In Charge
by RickHammersteel
Summary: Lori gets convinced to let Leni in charge of the house for a day. Unfortunately, the power goes to her head a little.


If one were to go to the Loud House on that Friday night, they would feel a sense of utter dread. This was a very common occurrence whenever the parental units decided to have their many dates, as it meant that the eldest sister was in charge.

The telltale sounds of a whistle alerted the Loud siblings to line up near the stairs in order of age. They listened to the sounds of stomping as the first-born came up in front of them. Surprisingly, she was in her normal attire instead of her authority fatigues.

Lori held the whistle in her hand as she walked down the line,"I'm sure you're all wondering about the outfit. Well, the good news for you guys is that Mom and Dad just happened to have a date on the same day I have a golf game." She sighed,"So I'm not going to be in charge of you all today."

The entire group of siblings let out a sigh of relief.

"Instead I'll..." Lori stood in front of Leni, who looked up at her with a big grin. Lori immediately turned to Luna,"put you in charge, Luna."

Luna blinked, holding her hand to her chest,"Me!?"

Lori nodded, handing the whistle to her, before the second-oldest spoke,"Lori!"

Lori sighed, turning to Leni,"What?"

Leni pouted,"I was born after you, I think, don't I get to be in charge?"

"Leni, I don't-"

"Come on, Lori, I'll be a really good babysitter!" Leni cupped her hands in front of her,"I promise I'll take good care of them!"

Lori gulped,"I'm sure you will try, but I'm not sure-"

Leni sniffled,"Do you not trust me?" her eyes began to grow big and watery.

Lori took a step back while shaking her head,"Don't give me that look!"

Leni pouted some more,"Please, please, please!" she dragged out that last, please.

"Okay, fine!" Lori gave Leni the whistle,"You're in charge, Leni! Don't let the house burn down while me and the parents are gone!"

Leni took the whistle and hopped up and down with glee,"Thank you! I'll do my best!" She ran up the stairs,"I'll put on my best leader dress!"

Lori sighed, turning to her other siblings,"Remember, only call in an emergency." She heard the sound of a vehicle nearing the house,"That's my ride. I'm probably going to be back before the parents." She headed towards the door and walked out.

Lincoln began to think for a minute,"Well, Leni's in charge now. Not sure if this is a good thing or not." He and the other siblings began to hear the sound of Lucy shuffling her Tarot deck. They all turned and watched as Lucy pulled off the top card.

Lucy turned to all of them, before looking back at the card,"This will not end well."

* * *

Luna tuned her guitar as she thought about the situation. Leni was a nice girl, she was sure that her older sister wouldn't mess things up around here. In part, she was kind of glad she herself wasn't in charge. Sure, in a band, Luna may have to be put in a position to take command, but a normal rock band didn't have 9 members to take care of. Luna mulled over her thoughts as she turned the knob of her speakers.

At least she attempted to do so.

It was stuck at a safe five instead of the awesome eleven she wanted,"What?" Luna whispered, then she heard her older sister pop her head in the door.

"Oh, I glued the knobs! Wouldn't want you to bust your ears!" Leni grinned, slowly walking away.

Luna's eyes widened, before she ran to Lisa's room,"Lisa, tell me you have a glue-remover or something!"

* * *

Lisa smiled at her roommate, who smiled back at her,"And that, dear little sister, is how I can solve the mystery of who shot Tupac with my What-If Machine." She listened to Lily's giggles with a nod,"You see, this is what I like about you, Lily, you may not be able to contribute much to my lectures, but you do at least try to listen to me."

"Poo poo!" Lily said.

Lisa patted her on the head,"Now, you sit there while I attempt to make a universal glue solvent." She walked over to one of her drawers and opened one.

She frowned, noticing that all of her stuff was gone,"Where is my equipment? Where are my chemicals!?"

Leni popped her head out the door,"Oh, I locked those in the attic! Wouldn't want you to blow yourself up!" She sang.

Lisa looked at her,"How!? I was in the room the entire time!"

Leni shrugged,"I don't know." she walked away, leaving the second youngest to slam her head on the desk.

Luna came in next,"Tell me you got something to remove glue!"

Lisa let out a muffled groan, before looking up at her,"I'd love to give you that, my tinnitus-causing sibling, but apparently our dimwit of a sister decided it was a good idea to remove my equipment!"

"Let me guess, didn't want you to have an accident?" Luna frowned.

Lisa frowned,"Exactly." She raised an eyebrow,"What, did she glue your stereo knobs?"

Luna gave a heavy sigh,"Yep. Sure you can't just MacGyver something from the kitchen?"

"That show is annoyingly unrealistic, but yes, I could probably solve your glue problem with ingredients from the kitchen." Lisa walked out of the door with some frustrated muttering,"This close to making a Smart Ray just for her..."

* * *

Luna walked down the hall, a little annoyed that her older sister seemed to be slightly going crazy. Then she heard a frustrated yell from Lynn and Lucy's room. She peeked her head in, noticing Lynn with her face in a pillow,"What's going on?"

Lynn looked behind her,"Leni... replaced... my gym equipment with foam." She snarled,"and to add insult to injury, she stuffed the rest of my sports equipment in the attic!"

Luna raised an eyebrow,"Man, she really likes that attic." She frowned,"Wait, why is she so worried about you now!?"

"I don't know!" Lynn shouted, then she noticed something walking passed Luna's legs,"Lucy?"

Luna looked down, noticing her goth sister slowly walking towards her bed,"You okay? Normally, you make me jump."

"Can't go to my attic. Can't go to my vents." Lucy sat on her bed, and held her knees to her chest,"I'm just going to get my inspiration by staring angrily at the wall."

"Wait, did she really lock the attic?" Luna asked,"What did Leni do with the vents?"

"She double bolted them, and while doing so, told me she didn't want her 'widdle Wucy' getting too hot or too cold," Lucy said.

"Well, you shouldn't be hanging out in vents anyway!" Luna said, placing her hands on her hips.

"They're comfortable, okay?" Lucy said, in her usual monotone,"They're a nice safe spot from the loudness of this house."

Luna rubbed her temples. This was getting worse by the second. She stepped away from their room, only to hear the tell-tale screaming of a certain six-year-old girl. She turned her head to see Lola run out,"My make-up kit is gone!"

Leni popped her head out of her and Lori's room,"Ah, I didn't want you to misapply it, and suddenly get Sagittarius or something."

Lola was about to yell, before looking at her questioningly,"What?"

"Well, you're already a Cancer, so you can't get that." Leni popped her head back in.

Lola was rendered speechless by this, before contorting her face in anger,"Come on, I've been doing my own make-up for years!" She shouted.

"You got off easy." her twin walked up the stairs, wearing an inner tube and a pair of floaties.

Lola snarled,"I got off-" She raised an eyebrow at Lana,"What happened to you?"

"I tried to get into a mud puddle, and, well," Lana looked down,"Leni happened."

'Geez, I heard power corrupts, but this is insane.' Luna thought.

Lana sighed, and began to sniffle a little," And even worse, she took my toolbox, and replaced it with toys!"

"And let me guess," Luna rolled her eyes," She put it in the attic?"

"Yeah, how'd ya know?" Lana asked.

"Wild guess." Luna said, stepping aside as her roommate walked by,"Hey, Luan-"

"My prank chest is also in the attic." Luan grumbled, slowly turning her angered eyes to Luna,"She is so getting extra pranked on April 1st!" she stomped her foot for emphasis.

"It seems that Leni's apparent madness is affecting all of us." Lisa walked up the stairs, and handed Luna a bottle,"Here, lemon oil mixed with baking soda and tap water. This should remove the adhesive."

Luna took the concoction,"Whoa, you are MacGyver." She shook the bottle a little.

Then they heard laughter. They turned to see certain white haired boy leaned against the bathroom door frame," Wow, you girls must be in such a bind." He shook his head.

Lynn popped her head out her door,"Why are you being so smug!?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, I don't know..." Lincoln rolled his eyes as he walked down the hall to his room,"It could be because the last time there was a change in management, I got hit in the head with a golf club and got threatened because I wasn't Lori. This almost feels like karma." He leaned back his head, and laughed as he touched his door,"It looks like the middle child has won this round!"

Lola frowned,"Well, isn't she being overprotective with you!?"

"Oh, no." He turned to them,"Unlike you, I don't have any quote-unquote 'dangerous hobbies.'"He smirked,"I'm perfectly safe from this madness." He closed the door.

Luan raised a finger, and then pulled out a stopwatch from her pocket. She tapped her foot as the seconds went by.

There was a wretched scream from Lincoln's room, causing Luan to stop the watch,"Wow, eight seconds!" She grinned.

Lincoln kicked the door opened,"She put parental locks on my computer! And locked my comics-"

"In the attic?" The other sisters asked.

"No, in my drawer, where did you get that idea?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow.

* * *

The siblings had decided to set up a Sibling Meeting in the basement. Any of their rooms were either too small or too close to Leni's for comfort. The siblings were all staring at the third oldest.

Luna gulped,"Why are you all looking at me?"

"You were Lori's first choice." Lincoln stepped forward,"We kind of think you should be able to knock some sense into her."

Luna took a step back,"But, I can't just knock sense into her, I hardly interact with her!"

Lincoln pouted,"Come on, sis, you can do it!" The rest of the siblings joined and looked up at her.

Luna gave a defeated sigh,"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Luna stepped out of the basement, and turned to the couch, noticing Leni sitting on it, having finished making a call. The blonde looked up at her,"I decided to get us all pizza!"

Luna gulped as she walked towards her sister,"Uh, Len, I think we need to talk..."

Leni looked up at her,"Okay, first, I wanna ask: Do you think Lori'll like what I'm doing!?" She grinned,"I mean, I wanna make sure she's happy that I can take responsibility, and that I can take care of my younger siblings, and that I'm an amazing sister..."

Luna pulled at her collar,"Um..."

Leni had a big wide grin,"And nothing will make me happier than seeking Lori's approval. After all, I don't want to mess up and feel super depressed. Then I'll think Lori'll hate me forever, and I'll never get to be in charge ever again."

Luna took a step back, her eyes widened,"Well..."

"And then I'll never be trusted with anything, and I'll feel even more horrible, and then I'll never leave my room ever again!" Leni cocked her head at her,"Now what was it you wanted to talk about, Luna?"

Luna opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

* * *

"I can't do it," Luna said to the group. She looked down at the ground with a defeated sigh," She just wants to make her big sister proud, and I think we all know how that feels."

The siblings muttered amongst themselves in agreement.

"In that case," Lisa spoke up,"Maybe we should call our eldest sibling instead. Perhaps a word from her will clear things up."

Luna nodded. She pulled out her phone and proceeded to call Lori. She then pressed the button to put her on speaker.

"What's going on?" Lori asked, a bit of worry in her voice.

Lana spoke up,"Leni's gone crazy!"

Lori's voice had a tinge of confusion,"What." she listened to them explain Leni's sudden bout of overprotectiveness in her absence,"I... see..."

She then began to snicker, then the snickering divulged into laughter,"Oh, my gosh! So, let me get this straight, you called me because Leni's literally too nice!?"

The siblings frowned.

"You want me, the so-called Queen of No, to come in and save you from dear, sweet, kind Leni." Lori laughed some more,"Oh, this is rich! I mean, really? Make up your minds, guys, do you want nice, or bossy!?"

Lincoln frowned,"She's overbearing!"

"So I heard." Lori chuckled," Yeah, Leni being too nice is not an emergency, guys. Unless the house is on fire, or one of you is dying..."

Lucy raised a hand,"I'm dying..."

"Really?" Lori asked.

"On the inside," Lucy said.

"... Goodbye." Lori signed off with a click.

"Well, that was a bust," Lincoln muttered.

Lynn cracked her knuckles," Welp, time for Plan C."

Leni came down the stairs,"Plan C?"

The siblings turned to her.

"Oh, I heard Lori's voice down here, did you tell her what I've been doing!?" Leni gave a happy grin. That grin soon faded as the siblings marched towards her,"Uh, what are you doing?"

Luna sighed, looking up from the floor,"Sorry, sis."

Leni gave a confused look," Sorry for wha-" She then screamed as the rest of the family pounced on her.

* * *

Leni was thrown into her room on her butt. She watched in shock as her sisters, and brother closed the door in front of her. She ran to it, and tried to open the knob,"Guys, let me out!" She heard the sound of a chair being hitched up to the doorknob,"This isn't funny, I'm supposed to be in charge!"

"No!" She heard Lynn's voice through the door,"You've gone nutty, Leni!"

Lana spoke next,"Yeah, we thought you'd be easier on us, but you've been too overprotective!"

Lucy said as loudly as she could,"Suddenly all the normal stuff that we've been doing for a long time has suddenly become dangerous to you."

"You've let power go to your head, Leni, and unlike Lori, you've been suffocating us in so-called 'protection!'" Lincoln shouted.

"But, " Leni said,"I was only trying to be nice, and helpful..."

"No, you weren't!" Lynn shouted,"We'd rather have Lori as a babysitter than you right now."

This made Leni tear up,"But-"

"No buts, you're staying in here," Lincoln said finally.

Leni sniffled,"I-I..." She turned and ran into the wall in tears.

* * *

Luna winced as she heard Leni burst into tears. This felt way worse than tying Lori up. She turned to her siblings, who were talking amongst each other,"So, who's the new boss?"

Lincoln heard that, and spoke up,"Not me! Not after last time!" He glared at Lola.

"You're still on that!?" Lola stomped up to him,"That was a month ago!"

"Me and Lori had to try to explain to Dad why his golf club had my imprint on it!" Lincoln snarled,"No, I'm not letting that go!"

"I did what you told me to do!" Lola shouted, putting her hands on her hips.

"I don't remember me telling you to knock me on the head!" Lincoln shouted back.

"Oh, I guess you're exempt from the rules you make, huh!?" Lola held her hand to her chest,"Almighty King Lincoln can do whatever he wants, as long as we don't do it too!"

Lincoln rolled his eyes,"Oh, you're one to talk. What's your next pageant called again? Little Miss Self-Centered?"

Lola snarled,"That pageant isn't for another few weeks, you hick!"

The other siblings backed away from the bickering brother and sister to talk amongst themselves,"So, what do we do now?" Lana asked.

"..." Lynn narrowed her eyes,"You know what? I'm through with authority! Anarchy!" She raised her hands and ran off downstairs.

Lana looked at Lisa,"Anarchy?"

"It means no rules or regulations," Lisa said with a frown.

"Sweet!" Lana ran after Lynn.

Lisa sighed,"I'm going to get my stuff back." She walked away.

Luan grinned,"You know, anarchy kind of sounds fun. I mean, isn't that what you've been singing about in those whiny protest songs of yours, Luna?"

Luna shook her head, glaring at her roommate,"They are not whiny! And I only sing those when Lori makes me mad."

"Whatever." Luan shrugged,"I'm off to prank some unsuspecting siblings now, bye!"

Luna sighed as her sister ran off. She turned to Leni's door once more,"Leni..." She then heard a scuffle. The argument between Lola and Lincoln had escalated,"I'll talk to her later..." Luna said to herself as she walked over to the dust cloud of fists and feet.

* * *

Leni had finished crying. She looked at herself in the mirror as she heard the chaos slowly build up in the house,"I'm sorry," She said to her mirror,"I'm not as good as you, am I?"

Leni held her hand up to the mirror,"You're prettier, smarter, more successful. You're the best big sister ever." She wiped her eyes,"I want to be more like you, but I can't. I'm not like you." She sniffled,"Big words confuse me, I still have trouble driving, and I mess things up. They look up to you, Lori, and they treat me as a... a burden." She looked down at the ground.

She then heard a buzzing noise,"My phone!" She turned to her nightstand and ran to it. She picked it up when she saw Lori's name," Lori?"

"Hey, Leni. I'm on my way home in about 15 minutes. Keep the house spotless for me." Lori let out a snicker,"Okay?"

Leni gave a sad sigh,"Okay..."

Lori heard her sister's tone of voice,"Is everything okay? Leni?" She couldn't say more as Leni turned off the phone.

Leni turned to her and her sister's wardrobe. Her eyes fell on Lori's green military jacket and shirt. Her eye twitched a little as she walked towards it, her imagination running wild.

("You're just not good enough, Leni." Lori said, her disapproving eyes bored into her,"You are not to be trusted with anything, ever!")

Leni took another step, her ears picking up the sounds of her siblings breaking stuff around the house.

(Lynn Sr. shook his head in shame,"Kid, you couldn't even handle your own brother and sisters, what makes you think you can handle being on your own?")

Leni took another step, this time taking off her shades and casually dropping them onto the carpet.

(Rita sighed,"Where did I go wrong? Leni, you're not good enough for this sort of responsibility.")

Leni snarled, taking off her seafoam dress and dropping it to the floor.

(The siblings all looked at her with false sympathy. They didn't respect her. They thought of her as a burden. A simpleton that only deserves to be mocked.)

Her eyes furrowed in anger as she grabbed Lori's jacket.

* * *

Luna glared at the two as they sat on the living room sofa. She casually dodged a mud pie thrown by Lana,"Now, what do you say?"

Lola sighed, turning to Lincoln,"Sorry for hitting you with a golf club."

Lincoln sighed as well,"And I'm sorry for not giving any clear rules, and then making you think I'm above them."

Lola scooted closer to him,"Hug?"

"Hug." Lincoln pulled her in with his arms,"Now, let's go have fun before Lori or our parents get home!"

Lola grinned,"Yeah!"

Luna sighed as she stepped away from Lynn playing hockey on the floor,"Good, now that's settled." She looked up at the stairs,"I need to talk to Leni. Poor girl's sensitive and docile. Unlike Lori, I don't think she could take this." She walked up the stairs and stopped. She didn't hear her older sister crying in her room. Normally, that'd be a good thing, but something caused a shiver up her spine. Luna gulped as she walked towards Leni's room. She was scared of something, but she didn't quite know what. She took the chair off the door and placed it somewhere else. She turned to the door, only to watch as it swung open.

Luna gave out a gasp. Her eyes trailed up a pair of boots, to a pair of cargo shorts and a military tank top covered by a military jacket. The Whistle of Authority given by Lori hung around a blonde girl's neck. In her hand, she held a riding crop. She looked up at her sister's face. Her normal sunglasses were replaced by Lori's military shades. Luna began to speak,"L-Leni?" Her eyes met Leni's. Leni had a look of anger in her eyes never before seen. Luna took a step back.

Leni glared at Luna,"Go downstairs, Luna." She said in a very firm voice.

The voice shut Luna's throat up. Her sister had suddenly turned a 180 in demeanor,"W-"

"Did I literally stutter!?" Leni shouted suddenly, causing the rocker to yelp, and then speed off down the stairs.

* * *

Luna sped down the stairs,"Girls, the new boss, she's the same as the old boss!"

The siblings apparently didn't listen as they kept on doing whatever it was they wanted. At least until a certain whistle stopped them all. Luna turned around and backed away from Leni as she stomped down the stairs.

Leni looked at her siblings, and then at the house. Mud pies were everywhere, broken glass was on the floor, and there were scuff marks all over the floor. Leni gave a snort," Lori's coming home in 14 minutes, I suggest you all start cleaning this up and then going to your rooms!"

Lynn laughed at this," Seriously?" she walked towards Leni,"Come on, Leni, why should we listen..." her voice trailed off as Leni glared daggers at her,"Because you're the big sister and I should exercise my cleaning muscles!" She ran to the utility room.

Lisa pushed up her glasses,"Um, Leni, you seem to have changed. I think your brain-"

"Lisa, I don't have time for your big words. Clean up this mess and then go to your room, or I will literally turn you into a human pretzel, am I clear!?" Leni whacked the staircase for emphasis.

"Yes!" Lisa squeaked as she ran off.

Leni watched as the siblings began fixing their mess. She stomped towards the kitchen, ready to fix up some broken glass before her younger siblings even think of doing it themselves. She stopped as she looked at herself in the mirror. She touched her face," Lori..." She sighed as she looked down at the floor.

* * *

Lori gave out a proud whistle as she headed down the hallway to her room after putting away the pizza she picked up from the late delivery guy,"Wow, the house is still standing, there wasn't an ambulance nearby, and everyone's in their room! I am impressed!" She opened the door to her room, and found it empty,"Hmm?" She turned on the light, and looked around, before catching her military fatigues on her bed,"Was she wearing my shirt?" She asked herself. At that point, she heard whimpering from her closet. She turned and went to the closed door," Leni?"

"Leni's not here," She heard her sister say behind the door,"She's in Wardrobe Town."

Lori put her hands on her hips,"You gonna come out of Wardrobe Town?"

Leni responded with a sad whimper.

Lori sighed as she opened the door. Sitting there at the back of the wardrobe was Leni, sitting with her knees to her chin. Her watery eyes looked up at her.

"Leni." Lori sighed,"You wore my shirt again."

Leni then burst into tears,"I'm sorry! I tried to be a good sister, but they... they..."

"They threw you into your room and then you lost it." Lori said with a frown,"Now you know how I feel."

"I didn't mean to!" Leni sobbed,"I didn't want to yell and scare them, I just wanted them to be safe and listen to my rules. But they didn't listen at all!"

Lori knelt down to her level, and placed a comforting shoulder,"So, your younger siblings annoyed you, and you yelled at them."

Leni sniffled and then nodded.

"Did you hurt them?" Lori asked.

Leni shook her head.

"Is anyone at the hospital?"

Another shake.

"All you did was yell at them, and bring them in line," Lori said.

Leni sniffled,"I didn't want to, it just happened."

"Well, they at least learned something for the next time I put you in charge." Lori chuckled,"Don't provoke you."

Leni looked up at her,"Wait, next time?"

Lori nodded,"I'm proud of you, Leni, you managed to get them all to respect your authority, and got them to do an efficient job of cleaning the house." She smiled.

Leni was speechless

"I admit, at first, I didn't think you were going to be a good caretaker. After all, you were docile, sweet, and nice." Lori sighed,"You never even thought about the Big Sister Voice like I have. I mean, I remember when Lincoln was put in charge, no one respected him. I assumed the same was going to happen to you, but you surprised me, in a good way."

At that point, Leni gave her a hug,"Oh, Lori!" She began to cry.

Lori smiled as she patted her back. As Leni finished her tears of joy, she pulled back,"You know, I acted real nice on my first time too."

Leni blinked,"You did?"

"Yeah, you don't remember because, well, you, but I tried to be lenient myself." Lori sighed,"I let the kids do whatever they want while I just sat back and did nothing. Then Lincoln was put in the hospital, and both me and Lynn were chewed out by Mom and Dad. Lynn because she was careless, and me because I should've been watching both of them. It was then that Dad explained that as the oldest, it was my duty to keep the house afloat while they were gone. That day really made me realize just how heavy a burden I truly had." She chuckled,"Okay, maybe I go overboard every now and then..."

"Like I did..." Leni looked down at the ground.

"Like you did." Lori narrowed her eyes,"Gluing Luna's speakers, really?"

Leni chuckled at that,"Whoops."

"Next time, hold back on that over-protectiveness." Lori sighed,"Anyway if I go overboard, it's only because I care enough to want everyone safe. It sucks, but that's the way it is, especially in a house like this one."Lori sighed,"It's okay to be nice to them, but sometimes you're going to have to be firm."

"Lori..." Leni looked up at her,"Do you think they'll hate me for this?"

Lori giggled,"They'll say they do, then they'll forget all about it when they need you for something. Now," Lori got up,"How about tomorrow, we go to the mall and get you some military fatigues!"

Leni hopped up next to her,"Really!?"

"Yeah! That way, you won't stretch my shirt!" Lori said with a wry grin.

Leni covered her chest with a chuckle,"Yeah, sorry again."

"Don't worry, all my anger is too busy being smothered with pride." Lori put a hand around her shoulder as she led her to her bed.

* * *

 **A/N: This took longer than expected. Really tried hard to make this work. Whether or not it does is up to you.**

 **This is kind of a spiritual antithesis to another fic where Lori made someone else take charge in the Loud House.**

 **Hmm, tried my hand at a Crazy Leni fic, tried a Psycho Luan fic, do you think I should do another terrible Loud fic cliche?**


End file.
